Prosecutors want Bulger to forfeit $25 million

BOSTON (AP) — Prosecutors asked a judge Friday to order James “Whitey” Bulger to forfeit more than $25 million they say was generated by racketeering and other crimes he committed during his decades as a mob boss.

Bulger, 84, was convicted last month in 11 killings, as well as extortion, money laundering and weapons charges. Bulger will effectively receive life in prison when he is sentenced in November.

The forfeiture order requested by federal prosecutors would allow them to seize property worth up to $25.1 million. Prosecutors said during Bulger’s trial that they want any seized assets to go to the families of Bulger’s victims.

Bulger already had agreed to forfeit guns and $822,000 in cash hidden in holes cut into walls in his apartment when they captured him in California in 2011. He has asked to keep a Stanley Cup ring he said he received as a gift.

The request seeks to seize all Bulger’s current assets as well as any profits he could make in the future.

In motions filed in court, prosecutors noted that testimony during his trial showed he took in more than $25 million by extorting drug dealers, one of his murder victims and legitimate businessmen during the 1970s and ‘80s. The drug dealers and businessmen told chilling stories of how Bulger demanded tens of thousands of dollars from them and said if they did not pay, they would be put out of business or killed.

Bulger was one of the nation’s most-wanted fugitives after fleeing Boston in 1994 prompted by a tip from an FBI agent that he was about to be indicted. He remained a fugitive for 16 years before being captured in 2011.